Traditional media coverage of Second Life has increased significantly in the past year, and Australian media have latched on as well. Broadsheets like the Sydney Morning Herald have a run a number of stories, the 7.30 Report has run one and it’s rumoured that Four Corners has a program in production involving Second Life. Arguably, all of the coverage to date has fallen into two categories:
1. “Nerd makes big money in weird computer game thing” – a number of Australian media stories I’ve seen have taken this angle. Some is just regurgitation of international coverage of Anshe Chung’s money-making exploits. The 7.30 Report story was a little more even-handed and did cover the educational possibilities of SL, but it did still cover the ‘money-making nerd’ angle.
2. “Virtual world is a haven for gambling / porn addiction” – there’s been a lot of these type of stories overseas and I’m expecting a slew of them in Australia in the near future. I’ve no inside knowledge on this, but you’d have to at least assume that if Four Corners are doing a story in the area, it’s likely to address this area.
Both categories are totally valid and the second one in particular warrants regular investigation. But there also needs to be a third category:
3. “Virtual World is similar to real world but offers a chance to get things right this time” – there needs to be a lot more stories on the good that SL can do. We’ve talked about Second Life’s role in addiction previously, but there’s so much great stuff happening in the education field in particular. Even with corporations, which are rightly viewed with caution by veteran SL users, there’s room for them in SL to learn how to behave ethically and with respect. Stranger things have happened.
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